


Life Goes On

by Comerade



Category: Night In The Woods (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2020-02-28 16:20:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18760003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Comerade/pseuds/Comerade
Summary: After Mae and her friends nearly met their end in the depths of that cave, they're completely clueless on how to handle the situation. Bea, is especially confused on where to take things, and Gregg is slowly coming to the realization that Casey isn't ever coming back. After dealing with something so horrific, it's almost comforting to go back to life the way it was before, but the lingering questions still hang over everyone's heads.





	1. Just Another Day in Possum Springs

**Author's Note:**

> First piece of writing I'm sharing on here, or to more than a few people in general. I loved the game, and wanted to express how I thought things could've transpired afterwards

The daylight spilled into the room, a bunch of knick knacks she had almost no real care for anymore were strewn about everywhere. Curled up in the blanket, Mae opens her eyes, and quickly gets herself ready for the day. “God damnit I’m sore.” She groaned as the realization that she surprisingly still wasn’t dead somehow became apparent to her. “Time to face this reality again” she thought, rolling her eyes as she grabbed her computer to look at messenger. Gregg, surprisingly, was online right now. She decided to text him first.

Mae: “hey dude”  
  
Gregg: “hey dude”  
…

Mae: “‘sup dude”

Gregg: “duuude”

Mae: “duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude” 

Gregg: “duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude”

Mae: “dude”

Gregg: “yeah?”

Mae: “how come youre not at work?”

Gregg: “i got fired”

Mae: “what?!”

Gregg: “just kidding, im working a later shift today because my manager sucks”

Mae: “managers always suck.”

Gregg: “stupid managers and their capitalism”

Mae: “hi, im a manager, i like dogs, tv, paying my employees as little as legally possible, and long walks on the beach.”

Gregg: “and keeping gregg from seeing his boyfriend is also something i just love doing”

Mae: “man that sucks dude lemme beat up your manager”

Gregg: “only if your ready to face the consequences”

Mae: “well shucks when you put it that way it doesn’t seem like a very great deal there greggory”

Gregg: “haha well i gotta get ready for work anyway seeya duuude”

Mae: “dude!!”

Bea had left her usual few texts, but they were a lot less fun to read.

“Hey Mae. I think I got sick from that awful diner food but it’s whatever. I’m still hung up on this whole thing, what do we tell Casey’s family? I’m honestly torn, but I guess that I’ll just have to add that to the list of things amazing moral dilemmas we now have to face because why the hell wouldn’t we?  
…  
I’m sorry about that, I’m just freaked out about this whole thing. Well anyway, I’m here in the hell that is working at the ol’ pickaxe again, if you want to drop by.”

Angus updated his bio to his usual in-depth thoughts: “Nothing can stop a world-ending event from happening at any time. Make the most of your day today.”

Heading downstairs, Mae’s mom called out: “Honey? We have some leftover breakfast from last night if you want any.”

Mae walked over to the kitchen, and for once sat down at the table instead of on the counter. Her mom had put a plate of scrambled eggs, and waffles down at the seat. Mae began to devour more of the nostalgic meal she and her family made the previous night. Though an undeniable silence was in the air. The tension was palpable. While Mae was scarfing down the last of her eggs, her mom was pretending to read the newspaper, her eyes constantly looking back at Mae. But she was done eating quickly. Though she had barely gotten up when her mother interrupted by meekly saying “Mae, I…” The silence was now fully realized, no more clanking silverware or fake page turns, just nothing but the ticking of the clock behind them. The two of them were on the same page mentally, but neither of them knew what to say. Mae worried she’d made a mistake telling them.

“Mae… Everything you told us last night, it was pretty scary. I don’t like seeing my baby girl so hurt. I think you need to stop putting this off, you need an appointment with Dr. Hank.” 

“Oh God, mom. Hank doesn’t do anything to help, he’s terrible at what he does!”

“Mae! You need help with what you’re going through and he’s the best option we have, I don’t want you having another episode. You remember what happened when you-”

“Mom, please don’t bring that up. The whole town has been reminding me of it and I just want to forget it ever happened.”

“...I understand. Go have fun today, Mae. And stay out of those woods, I’m not losing you, honey.” 

...

“You won’t, mom. Don’t worry.”

Mae opened the door once again to a ground with a light coating of snow. Walking down the street a bit revealed Selmers wasn’t at her stoop today. Though she passed the rest of her usual suspects.

“There’s been a lot of disappearances over the past few days. Seriously Mae, be careful.”

“I knew there was bad weather comin’. Hey, do you understand basic English? Get off of my porch!” 

“You look a lot better today, Mae. Be sure to attend a service soon, God is definitely looking out for you.”

“Hey Mae, I wrote you a part for my horror movie! The role fits you perfectly you’re gonna love it I swear!” 

Walking through town again was strange, no one mentioned what happened to her just a few days prior. Life was just… continuing. No one knew what had truly happened, it was a jarring experience that her near-death experience was old news already. But it was still comforting, like she could finally move past it. She once again found her way to the Ol’ Pickaxe. Stepping into the store, Mae made a bealine for her favorite cashier. 

“Hey Bea!” 

“Hey Mayday, what’s goin’ on?”

“I dunno, just chillin’ with my favorite person I know here.” Mae said in a bubbly voice, leaning against the counter.

Bea squinted, “...Do you want something from me, Mae?”

“No, not really. I was just hoping we could hang out after you get out of work?”

“Well, considering that the time I get out of work has never really stopped you from taking me on wild adventures, why not leave now, right?” 

“Maybe in a bit, I’m gonna go talk to Angus first”. 

“Alright. I’ll see you in a little while.”

Mae headed for the door, but as she did. Bea’s voice dropped a bit as she said: “Oh, and I’m sorry again about blowing up in those messages.”

“Don’t worry about it, Bea. We’re all a bit more, than a bit freaked out by all this stuff.”

“Yeah. I just kinda feel guilty about this whole thing. It seems like we should tell Casey’s parents but… Well, best case-scenario we’ll be seen as crazy for coming up with such a strange story to explain what happened. And at worst, we’ll be suspects for Casey’s death.”

“Well, not me. I wasn’t here when he went missing.” 

“Thanks, Mae. That comforts me so much.”

“Sorry. I’ll see you later.”

She exited the store and hastily made her way over to that confusingly named video store. 

“Howdy, Angus.” 

“Hey it’s Mae. What’s up?”

“I’m just checking in with you, dude.”

“Are you ever gonna come here for the store’s intended purpose?” 

Mae took a peek at all the movies all over the store. None really piqued her interest. “Eh, probably not.” 

“Hmm…”

“Well, maybe I will, if I find a good movie to rent or something.”

“It’s fine Mae,” Angus chuckled, “I was just wondering.”

Suddenly, the friendly neighborhood Gregg waltzed right into the store.

“Woah, hey it’s Gregg!” Mae exclaimed.

“Woah, hey it’s Mae!” Gregg exclaimed. 

“You really like repeating me today, huh?”

“Eh, I dunno I guess so.”

Gregg walked up to Angus and handed him a brown paper bag, on it was an adorable little drawing of a heart.

“I made you some lunch there cap’n.” 

“Thanks so much, bug! What’d you make?”

“Nothing much, I just made some more lasagna. We have way too much of that stuff, and to think I just thought it was part of the wall.” 

“I’ll eat it when I get out in an hour.” 

Mae chimed in with “Do you normally make Angus lunch, Gregg?”

“Not really, no. It’s just that today we’re not really gonna see each other much since we’re going to work at the most inconvenient times,” he grumbled. So I decided that I’d hang out with him at his job so that we can at least be together now.”

“That’s really sweet, Gregg. God you two are the best.”

Angus chuckled, and Gregg flashed a proud smile at him.

“Well, I’m gonna go hang out with Bea, since you two seem covered.”

“Alrighty duder, we’ll catch you later.”

Making her way back over to the ol’ pickaxe, Mae was interrupted by a passerby in green pants and a red sweater. 

“Oh, excuse me ma’am.” The woman asked “I’m on a photography expedition wherein I’ll be documenting towns that, have seen a large economic downfall since their prime. I’m writing a book about these towns and what we can learn from them.”

Mae chuckled and replied “Good choice! Possum Springs is just a big garbage fire.” 

“I don’t know if I’d put it like that, but would you happen to know where would be the best place to go for a taste of this town’s history?”

“Hmm. There’s a church right up those steps over there, they’ve got a statue of Pope Rubello. There’s a war monument towards the center of town. And I guess the bridge on the entrance to town is kind of cool. I’d suggest the mural underground, but someone kind of spray painted all over it. Man, saying this stuff out loud really puts how boring this place is into perspective.”

“Oh, but. I was reading up on the history of your town. Wasn’t your town’s whole thing mining awhile back?” 

Mae’s stomach dropped as soon as those words were mentioned. “Uh…” she started, but not really knowing what to say, she had to improv “... I mean, yeah. Mining was a big thing way back in the day, but you probably shouldn’t go anywhere near those mines you know, they’re so old and dangerous. It’d be much better to just go to the library and-”

Mae was interrupted “Oh don’t worry about me. I’m a photographer but that doesn’t mean I’m not a tough-as-nails badass, right?”

“I-um… It’s probably really illegal.”

“C’mon, you don’t look like the type to worry about the law if I’m honest. What’s got you so worked up?”

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, what could she say that wouldn’t end horribly? “I’m… I mean… You’re not, or you shouldn’t… You shouldn’t go into the mine, alright? I get you’re bold and all, but it’s just not safe enough.”

“Sounds to me like you don’t want me to go because you know something I don’t.”

“I uh- what?”

“I’m just messing with you. I know you’re worried about me but that place could make for some great shots. I’ll go check out the other places first so maybe if you’re lucky I’ll be satisfied with just those pictures.”

As she walked towards the church, Mae was left feeling nothing but pure unbridled dread and fear. Without even realizing it, she was already running straight to the ol’ pickaxe again. 

“Who knew that when the time came, I’d be done in by a tourist?” She almost joked to herself.


	2. Return to Sender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the photographer tells Mae she's visiting the mines later that day, Mae gathers her friends try to prevent the possible consequences.

“Bea! Oh cripes Bea we gotta go!” Mae exclaimed while bursting into the Ol’ Pickaxe. 

“What the hell is wrong with you, Mae?!” 

Mae ran up to Bea, jumped over the counter and grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Bea! I… There’s a photographer in town, and-”

“Hold on, Mae… You came rushing in here just to get a photo with me?” 

“What, no! The photographer wants pictures of the mine!”

Bea’s eyes widened fully for a second, but then completely closed a moment later.

“Mae. There’s no way I just heard what you just told me, I… Are you sure? Can’t they just find some pictures online or at the library or something?!” 

“I tried telling her about it but she just kept talking about how she was a badass and was gonna go down there anyway!”

“God… Damnit… We gotta get Gregg and Angus! Is she going now?” 

“No. She should be making a few stops before going to the mine.”

“Thank God. Mae?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you let go of my shoulders now?”

“...Ok.”

Running back through the streets, Mae and Bea ran as if their lives depended on it. And depending on how this went, they very well could. 

“You sure we’ll be alright for awhile?” Bea asked. “I mean, what are we even gonna do when we get there?!”  
“I don’t know. But we’ll think of something, right? We always do! I just hope we can put a stop to all this shit…”

Upon reaching the video store and opening the door, in unison they both collapsed onto the floor.  
“Woah, what the hell is wrong with you guys?”

“We have to go to the mine, now!” 

Angus chimed in with “Wait, what the hell? Why?”

“There isn’t enough time to explain now,” Bea said “I’ll tell you guys on the way over.”

“I’m almost done with my shift, and Gregg’s shift is going to start soon, and we’d hate to lose work, right bug?” 

“Nah, I’m alright with ditching work. My manager can suck it. And this does kinda sound important, Cap’n. I think we should probably go.” Gregg said.

“Fine” Angus caved in “but this had better be for a damn good reason.”

***

Everyone ran up over the hill and towards the mine where they’d first seen the cult. 

“We should be done with this bullshit!” Gregg yelled, “I swear to God if someone finds out then-”

“Gregg shut up!” Bea whispered.

Just over the hill, near the mine, was a cop. Clearly searching the area, clearly searching for evidence on the missing person reports. 

“Oh for the love of… I didn’t know that they let mall cops investigate a case like this.” Mae squinted. 

“Well, what are we even gonna do about the situation?” Angus inquired “I mean, do you guys even have a plan for what to do when we get in there?”

Everyone fell silent for a moment. This whole time they’d been too terrified over the possible outcome of the whole even to even consider a plan. 

“I guess… we’ll just have to find a way to block off that part of the mine without them noticing.” Gregg suggested

 

Bea snorted, “Easier said than done. Even malnourished, those guys are gonna notice us, and if they do we’re dead.”

“Well it’s our best shot I think. I mean, yeah it’s possible even going into the mine they won’t find them, but let’s be honest here, luck hasn’t entirely been with us recently. We can use the entrance in the well near Germ’s… tree I guess? I mean, he has a rope that we can use to get up and out of it, we’d just need another one to get down the elevator shaft.”

“Well, I mean I guess so. Germ probably has another rope like that one, and we could always have Mae climb out again right?” Bea chuckled.

“Hell yeah, I’ll totally save your asses again. Let’s effin do this thing!” 

All eyes were on Angus, who was clearly having conflicting thoughts on the whole thing. Gregg grabbed his hand and said “C’mon Cap’n. You know we can’t do this without you. It’s gonna turn out fine, alright? I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Aww.” Mae said.

Angus blushed and sighed, “Alright… I’ll come. But just because I’m not letting any of you die in there, alright?”

They all got up and walked away. Bea tripped over a rock, and fell.

“Oh shit get down!” Mae whispered. When they got down, Molly was staring right in their direction. It was unclear whether or not she’d seen them. But she seemed to bring her attention back to her investigation a few seconds later.

***

“Man!” Gregg exclaimed, “who’d’ve thought Germ had two of these ropes?”

“It’s not a big deal, they’re just ropes.” Mae retorted.

“C’mon, these are some quality ropes.”

“Dude, they’re just ropes.” 

“Hey, these ropes saved your life.”

“No, they saved your lives, I was able to climb out myself.” 

“Oh, right.” 

“You guys done arguing?” Bea asked, clearly getting annoyed.

“I guess so.” Mae responded. “...Guess we gotta head down there now. Let’s fasten the rope.”

“Can I do it?!” Gregg shouted.

“...You need to re-evaluate your priorities, Gregg.”

As they lowered back into the well, the sense of dread only continued to rise. That awful familiar feeling they’d hoped to let go of forever was flooding back. If the cultists were still alive, then it was way too risky to let that photographer, or the police find them. If they were to have survived, who knows how it would turn out. They might go back to killing people, or bring Mae, and the rest of them into the situation. The whole situation was too dangerous to let it be.

“I guess we should count ourselves lucky, that Germ wasn’t able to get the dynamite yet.” Angus mentioned, as they all lowered further into the abyss.

Walking back through the mine, none of them said a word, the echoes of what had just happened here not too long ago were etched into their minds so much, it was like they were just reliving it backwards. Not knowing what might come of the situation, they continued onward, deeper, and back to the elevator shaft. Being as quiet as they could, so neither the cult members, or Molly could hear them, they lowered into the depths of the mine, and once again, continued onwards. Except something wasn’t right. They expected to hear the cultists talking, yelling, anything. But there was just silence. Angus and Gregg held hands the whole time.

“Somehow, knowing what’s down here is even worse than when we were here before. I mean, at least then we still thought it was just one guy, or a ghost or something.” Bea whispered.

Trudging forward, they made it back to the area with the hole. Still, met with nothing else but silence, they were just as perplexed as they were terrified. 

“Why didn’t we bring any flashlights or anything to help us see?” Angus asked, but was met with no response.

“Oh God, they must have a ton of tunnels around the place, I bet they’re watching us now, those sons of bitches.” Gregg snarled, eyes darting around in the pitch black. 

“I don’t think so Gregg. Mae started, “I didn’t see anything like that last time, it’s not impossible, though? I don’t know. It just feels different down here. Like, sure I’m scared as hell but… That crushing feeling of ‘someone is watching me’ and all that weird supernatural stuff, I don’t feel it anymore, and it’s almost freeing being down here. I can at least say I’m not scared of all that stuff anymore.”

“Well, that’s great for you, but what about this whole mess, what do we do, and… Hey, what’s this?” Bea picked up the cultist’s lantern. “I don’t think they’re here anymore.” Bea said, while turning on the lantern to reveal nothing, and no one.” 

“They… escaped?!” Gregg hollered, it echoed throughout the mine for a solid 15 seconds.

“No.” Mae said “they wouldn’t have left a trace, any evidence of them being involved with this would be very bad for them. I mean come on, they listened to a hole that told them to kill people. There’s no way these people weren’t nuts. They would’ve been paranoid over that I guarantee it.” 

“Well then. What happened to them?” Angus asked.

A silence befell them. Staring at the hole, Mae began to think about all those people who died at the cult’s hands again. Casey, especially. The horrifying realization hit her again that Casey was kidnapped, dragged underground, and thrown down a hole to feed some God or something. A God that if it wasn’t fed a human sacrifice every few months, would destroy the town. Was it even real? Did that even matter. Even if it was, these people were still sick, and twisted. Turning to any explanation as to why their lives weren’t turning out the way they wanted. Just then, it hit her like a truck.

“Oh God.” Mae said, finally breaking the silence.

“What?” Gregg said.

“They fed him.”


	3. Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their discovery in the cave, Mae and her friends hope that their lives can finally return to normal.

“Well, that’s good! ...I guess?” Gregg said, reluctantly. Standing over the hole, gazing into the unexplainable. “I mean… wow. They just kinda jumped in.” He stumbled back a bit, and walked into his crossbow. “Oh hey, nice!” 

 

"Oh yeah.” Angus remarked, “make sure that nothing is linking us to this place. Don’t leave anything here alright?”

 

“Righto, Cap’n!” Gregg stared at the crossbow. Once again, taking him back to that night. That crossbow is forever linked in his mind to the death of Casey. Or is Casey even dead? Nobody really knew what happened when you fell in that hole. But Gregg knew that whenever he’d see that crossbow, he’d just be reminded of Casey’s death, so he walked over to the hole, and threw it down.

 

“Why’d you do tha-?” Angus tried to say, but Gregg ran over and hugged him, tears forming in his eyes.

 

“God, Angus… Why the hell did they do that?! It’s not fair, Casey had so much time left, he could’ve changed! I mean he wasn’t perfect, but no one is! I- I just...” His voice trailed off as he spoke.

 

Angus embraced Gregg, and said “It’s okay. Those sick shits are gone, and I won’t let anything happen to you, bug. I love you more than anything.”

 

Gregg sniffed and meekly replied “I just miss him so much.” The realization that Casey hadn’t hopped on a train, and was dead the whole time was finally starting to sink in. 

 

“I know you do, honey, so do I.” 

 

Angus continued to comfort Gregg as Bea and Mae stood over the hole, reflecting on the whole ordeal.

 

“It’s weird.” Mae began, “I didn’t really expect any of this to happen when we came back here. I guess I should be glad with all this, but… It’s almost more ominous.”

 

“Yeah I can see why,” Bea replied “This whole time we were expecting this climactic encounter, but this makes sense. They believed in that hole being a sentient God that’ll destroy Possum Springs if left unfed, we already know about it, so at least part of the outside world knows about the whole thing. Jokes on them, we don’t care what the hell happens to town as long as we aren’t killing anyone. So we just gotta live with this being a secret.” 

 

“Sucks for everyone’s family members.”

 

“Yeah. I mean, what do we tell them? It’s just best we leave this place and put it behind us.”

 

“Good idea. Hey Angus, Gregg, are you guys alright to leave now?”

 

“Shh.” Angus replied, Gregg was still recovering from his breakdown. They all sat in near silence for a few more minutes.

 

*** 

 

“Well that was really easy actually.” Gregg said.

 

Mae responded, “Yeah, glad you’re feeling better now.” 

 

“Well the sooner we can put this whole thing to rest, the sooner I can finally relax again. I am just completely done with this.”

 

One at a time, the three of them climbed the rope. Mae had decided to climb out herself again, she thought it would save some time. After the last of them had made it out, they started walking towards Germ’s humble abode to return the ropes. But before they could get too comfortable, a voice from way behind them shrieked “ _ HEY! _ ” 

 

Gregg looked back, “Shit, Mae, it’s your aunt.” 

 

“Oh God Damnit, gimme a break!” Mae sighed.

 

“I’m in no shape to run, Mae.” Angus said, panting. “That climbing kinda got the best of me.”

 

Mae groaned, and said. “Well. I’m not leaving you here, big guy. We’ll just have to see what she wants.”

 

“Thanks, Mae.”

 

The group decided to start walking towards Molly. 

 

Bea grabbed Mae's shoulder and said “Don’t be a smartass with her Mae, alright?” 

 

“No promises.”

 

Molly finally caught up to them. “Mae! What the hell are you doing out here?! Do you know what your mom is going to think when she finds out you’re hiking through the woods again?!” 

 

Quick on her feet, Mae decided to do the impossible, give a straight answer to her aunt. “We’re just returning these ropes we borrowed from out friend Germ.”

 

“And your friend Germ lives in the woods?” 

 

“Yes, actually. I’ve been to his house.” 

 

“I thought it was a tree?” Bea said, Mae elbowed her and continued.

 

“Anyway, we need to return these ropes as soon as possible.”

 

Molly paused for a minute. “Wait. Oh you mean the Wartons? It took me a minute, you’re just talking about their son Jeremy right?” 

 

“Yep, that’s Germ.”

 

“Alright. Well, Mae. After you give him the ropes, just go back into town alright? I won’t tell your mom because it’ll terrify her. But it’s just not a good time for you to be out here alright?”

 

“Okay. Thanks…  _ a u n t i e _ .” Mae gritted her teeth as the words exited her mouth.

 

For a moment all of them just stood there, Molly’s was wide-eyed, and her jaw had dropped straight through the ground.

 

“Well, I… Thank you, Mae. Took me awhile but I hope I’m gaining your respect. Anyway, if you could offer me just one more moment of your time, I’d like to know what you guys were doing outside the mine earlier?”

 

“Uh, we-” Mae started before getting cut off by Bea. “We got lost.”

 

Molly replied, “Lost? Now how on earth do you get lost going to a friends house?”

 

“He does live in the middle of the woods.” Angus added.

 

“And I’m the only one who’s been there, and only once.” Mae chimed back in.

 

“A bit odd, but I suppose it makes sense, you got me in a good mood Mae, so I’m happy to just send you off. But seriously, when you’re done just go home.Your mother really doesn’t need anymore trauma than she’s already taken. And you don’t need to die, you know?”

 

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

 

“Alright, I’ll see you kids later, stay out of trouble now, alright? You know as much as I do that strange things are happening in this town.”

 

“Bye.” Mae said abruptly, attempting to end the conversation before Molly came up with any other topics. Both groups headed in opposite directions. 

 

“I think I’m gonna be sick after that.” Mae said meekly while holding her stomach. Bea rolled her eyes and they continued to Germ’s.

 

***

 

“Germ’s family is nice.” Gregg said as they all left the house. Once again in the crisp half-autumn, half-winter air. 

 

“Yeah. His grandma still kinda creeps me out though.” Mae said, looking back to make sure she wasn’t right behind her. The four of them started to walk into the woods once again. The Wartons waved to them from their porch before heading inside, and turning on their outdoor lights, it was beginning to get dark. 

 

“Well, I think it’s time we get you home, Mae. Your aunt will tear us a new one if she hears that you’re still in the woods past dark.” Bea chuckled. 

 

“I guess so. My parents are never gonna really trust me ever again, I’m surprised I was allowed to leave the house these past few days!” 

 

Angus wiped his glasses off with his shirt, “Well, I guess we can put this whole thing to rest now. For real, this time? I love you guys, but I think we need to find some other hobby to do all as a group than this.” 

 

Gregg perked up and said “What, you mean a traumatic experience once every few days isn’t your cup of tea?” 

 

Mae chimed in with a sly look on her face “Yeah, come on Angus that was great. It’s just too bad Gregg here didn’t fall in the hole with his crossbow.”

 

“Well it’s too bad you didn’t fall off the bricks when climbing back up the well.” 

 

“Well it’s too bad the rope didn’t snap while you were climbing it.” 

 

“Are you guys done?” Bea said, trying to look annoyed but not being able to hide a slight smile. 

 

"Well it's too bad Bea doesn't have a sense of humor!" Gregg exclaimed and all of them laughed and joked the rest of the way back.

 

They all continued back into town, passing by the Food Donkey, and the Click Clack. The streets were really different at night. At least during the day Possum Springs could look like a functioning town, but at night, the eeriness of the abandoned buildings, the lack of people walking around, it amplified how much of a ghost town the whole place was. Though there were a few people out on walks at night with their pets typically. The few street lights they have flickered above them as they walked, saying their goodbyes as they passed each house. 

 

Mae entered her house, her dad was sitting on the couch as usual. “Hey hey, Mae!” He he said in a singsong voice.

 

“Hey, dad. What’s got you all happy?”

 

“Well y’know, after last night I gave it some thought, and your mother was right. I needed to be more assertive with my boss and what do you know it worked!”

 

“Wow, really? Like, they just fixed all the problems you have there right on the spot?”

 

“Well, no. These things take time, of course. But he said he appreciated me coming to him and said he’d do some rethinking on how he runs the store.”

 

“Well that’s great! I’m glad we had that talk, I really needed it too. I feel much more free than I did before, y’know?”

 

“I’ve got the same feeling, Mae. alsoyourmotherscheduledyouanappointmentwithdoctorhank.”

 

“What?”

 

“You’re going the day after tomorrow at five.”

 

“Oh God, that makes me feel less free.”

 

“I know you hate it, kitten. But you know, we’re not professional psychiatrists, we’d love to help you all on our own but I don’t think we could.”

 

“Well, I don’t think Dr. Hank can be qualified as a ‘professional psychiatrist’ either.”

 

He sighed, and they both were lost for words for a moment. That familiar silence filled the room, but wasn’t quite as intoxicating as it was this morning. At least they had Garbo and Malloy to keep them company this time around.

 

_ “Say, Garbo?” _

 

_ “Yes, Malloy?” _

 

_ “You ever have a feeling of unbearable dread?” _

 

_ “I think I did when I signed the contract to be on this show.” _

 

_ [Laughter] _

_   
_ _ “Speaking of, what’s your favorite part of this big show business we’ve got going on, Malloy?” _

 

_ “Gee, I don’t know Garbo. I think it’s impressing the ladies by telling them I basically talk to you for a living, and then have to insist I’m not a psychiatrist.”  _

 

_ [Laughter] _

 

_ “That’s a whoppa!”  _

 

_ “Next up, me and Garbo meet an old friend!” _

  
  


“It really is a tricky subject, Mae. I don’t really know how to deal with what you say you’re going through and I had no idea you were! But he’s our best shot. But tell you what, alright? If you go to this session and feel that it won’t help you, you don’t have to go after that.”

 

“Fine. Fair warning, it’s gonna do worse than not helping.”

 

“Really?”

 

“I dunno, he told me that I need to repress my anger? I don’t think that’s good advice.”

 

“Wow. That’s like really bad actually. I’ll tell your mother about this tomorrow morning. I think we’ll just cancel the appointment. We’ll just have to find something else I guess.”

 

“Just being back here feels nice, so maybe we see if we can wait this out?” 

 

“That is a risk I do not want to take, Mae. Anyway, you should probably go to bed, alright?”

 

“Okay dad. Goodnight.”

 

Mae walked back up to her room and considered opening her laptop, but she was tired enough as it was and went right to sleep. Drifting off, she could finally rest mostly easy. All of it was behind her, she found the closure she needed and could finally move on. No appointment with that dumbass Doctor Hank, no cult trying to make them feed a vengeful God, no more stress. Finally her life could go back to normal… She closed her eyes, and drifted off into sleep. No supernatural dream, she didn’t have to find the four band members. Everything was finally… Normal.


	4. Can't Lose You Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gregg is starting to feel the loss of Casey more than ever, so he's not gonna lose anyone else.

Gregg woke up at 9:35 AM, his shift starts in 25 minutes.

 

“God damn this world making me do stuff in the morning!” He exclaimed, and fell off the bed.

 

He got to his feet quickly and opened his messenger, and messaged Mae, knowing her, she wouldn’t be up for another like 5 hours. 

 

“heyyy duders glad we didnt die again yesterday or anything, at the snalcon again if u wanna drop in and do a crimes”

 

He looked around his already empty apartment. Angus started work earlier than he did. So he didn’t have him there to talk to. Thinking back to what Angus said, he realized that he rarely even interacts with Bea outside of the band. And seeing as he and Angus were planning on moving, he thought it’d probably be best to try to become better friends before he doesn’t have the opportunity anymore. He glanced back at the clock, 9:42. He had plenty of time to send another message. 

 

“hey bea, we dont really hang out much besides the band and almost dying everyday so when mae comes around let’s all go as a group and do something normal maybe”

 

Bea was also a responsible adult getting ready for work, so she was able to text back rather than still being asleep.

 

“Oh, alright. Sounds like a plan I guess. I’ll text Mae that’s what we’re doing.”

 

With that in the books, he left his apartment, and took the elevator down to the ground floor. 

 

“I forgot to lock the door.”

 

He went back up to his floor, locked the door, and  _ then _ took the elevator down to the ground floor. Upon leaving the building he took in the atmosphere around him. After recent events it’s hard not to feel life in a more pronounced way. That, and it was extremely cold that morning. He looked around at all the people walking across town, all of them bundled up nice and warm, not Gregg though. His leather jacket was all he needed to keep warm. Though, somewhere amidst all the people, there was someone who looked familiar. Someone who looked just like… Gregg considered walking towards them, but there was no way it was him, it would be impossible, he continued over to the Snack Falcon, almost walked in but decided to head over to the person he’d seen. But they were gone. After awhile, he realized that he was gonna be late for work if he kept this up, so he walked back over to the Snack Falcon.

 

***

Mae woke up at 4:32 PM, she doesn’t have a job.

 

Mae woke up feeling better than she had since she had first come back to Possum Springs. Everything had wrapped up nicely and she was ready to just hang out with her friends again. She still slept for like 16 hours but it’s progress. She slowly got up, and grabbed her laptop… Again. Opening it revealed that both Gregg and Bea left her messages… Again. Reading through the messages, the repetition didn’t let up. 

 

Gregg: “heyyy duders glad we didnt die again yesterday or anything, at the snalcon again if u wanna drop in and do a crimes”

 

Bea: “Hey, Mae. I’m working the Ol’ Pickaxe again. I’m ready to be whisked into another magical adventure if you wanna stop by.”

 

“…”

 

“Okay, that was probably the dumbest way I could’ve said that but I’m leaving it. Oh and by the way Gregg just told me he wants us to hang out as a group and do something normal for once.”

 

After she was done reading the messages, she put down her laptop and went downstairs. Once again, she took note of her surroundings. She greeted the bird, she admired the grandfather clock, she read the books in the bookshelf, she reflected on the family picture once again. Almost out of obligation, necessity. She went down the rest the way, and her mom called to her. “Morning, honey. Come say hi to me before you leave, alright?”

 

Mae headed down the stairs once again to start her day the same way she does everyday. She hopped up on the counter, and gave a resounding: “Good morning.”

 

“Good morning, Mae. I’m, look I’m sorry I set up an appointment for you with Dr. Hank. I cancelled it. I guess we just have to find some other way to get you help. Until then, We’ll just have to try to keep you as happy and safe as possible!”

 

Mae looked down at the floor. Everything was happening the same way it always did, slight variations here and there, but more or less she was kind of experiencing adult life the way she dreaded it to be. “Thanks, mom. I appreciate you not forcing me into that.”

 

“Mae you know I’d never want to put you in a situation that you wouldn’t like. But we can leave this for another time. What are you doing today?”

 

“Oh, I think I’m gonna hang out with Bea and Gregg.”

 

“Well that’s good, have a great time today!”

 

She left her house and once more was experiencing another day in Possum Springs. It felt very comforting. She expected to feel like her life was nothing but shapes again through all the repeated scenarios. But at this point she found solace in the fact that nothing was changing, she thought about it as she walked down the familiar street, up to Selmer’s stoop. 

 

“Mae Borowski,” Selmers cracked a small smile, “back again.”

 

“Hey, Selmers. Where were you yesterday?”

 

Selmers sighed, and put her hand under her chin, “Oh, you know, same ol’ really boring job hunting stuff. Starting to think no one’s gonna hire me, you know?” She took out her journal again, and flipped through some pages, “Eh, but don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine, I wrote a new poem though, wanna hear it?”

 

“Girl you know I wanna hear your new poem.” Mae exclaimed, and they both burst out into laughter.

 

Once they both calmed down, Selmers said “Alright alright alright, ‘girl’ you’re gonna hear my poem.”

 

“ _ Winter comes, _

_ Winter stays. _

_ The children come, _

_ And play all days.” _

 

“That’s true.”

 

“I’m not finished yet.”

 

“Whoops.”

 

_ “The days grow short, _

_ But I am too. _

_ Until the year, _

_ Is born anew.”  _

 

Mae gave a smile, “That was not bad Selmers.”

 

Selmers put her journal away and turned back to Mae, “Thanks, Mae. Thanks for listening to my dumb poems, they mean a lot to me.”

 

Mae raised an eyebrow and with an aggressively tone said, “What? These poems aren’t dumb Selmers, they’re great and you should feel proud!”  

 

“You always know what to say, Borowski. Maybe you should give poetry a shot sometime.”

 

Mae glanced at the sunset, and back at Selmers, “I could always use a hobby that doesn’t involve dying.”

 

Selmers chuckled, “Yeah, I’d stay away from the whole night-hiking thing if I were you. Anyway, it’s about time I do more of that job hunting stuff, see if I can get some of that green stuff everyone keeps talking about.” 

 

“Alright Selmers, I’ll catch you later.”

 

Selmers walked back into her house, while Mae once again made her way through the town. Again, meeting up with everyone once again. The whole time thinking about what Selmers said. No, she wasn’t super interested in poetry, well, couldn’t hurt to try, but when is she gonna stop being a kid and get stuff done? She knew that her life would remain the same until she did something about it, and do something about it she would.  _ And it’s all gonna start with me writing a poem... somehow.  _ She thought to herself.

 

Entering the fabled Snack Falcon, Gregg was once again working the counter. But it’s almost like he wasn’t paying attention, lost in thought maybe. Mae walked over to the counter and stared at her friend for a second. He still somehow hadn’t even noticed her. “Hey, Gregg?” She tapped him on the shoulder.

 

Gregg jumped a little when she tapped him, “Oh wow, hi Mae.”  He rubbed his eyes and regained his composure, “Sorry I didn’t notice you'd walked in.” 

 

Mae looked at him, a little concerned over what he just pulled, “Uh, yeah don’t worry about it. Are you okay?”

 

Gregg shrugged his shoulders and just bluntly said “I dunno man. I just can’t stop thinking about Casey. Y’know, I thought I saw him earlier, but I know that’s not possible. I guess my mind is just playing tricks on me over it.” He stared out the window.

 

“That’s a cruel trick, dude. Are you alright?” Mae tapped her fingers on the counter.

 

Gregg, was already losing focus again, “Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m fine don’t worry about it.” Mae he looked over at Mae, who definitely didn’t buy it, but didn’t want to say anything about it. “So, all three of us are going somewhere, right? Where are we gonna go?”

 

She put her hand up to her chin, “Hm… I haven’t thought about that yet. Why not… Mini-Golf and Ice Cream?”

 

“Not a bad idea, Mae.” Gregg walked out from behind the counter, and towards the door, “Let’s go get Bea!”

 

The two of them headed over to the Ol’ Pickaxe, on the way, Mae decides to bring up a topic her parents would love to hear her talk more about. “Hey, Gregg. Is the Snack Falcon hiring?”

 

Gregg confusedly looked over at Mae, “Wait, you wanna work at the Snack Falcon? I mean, I think you might be able to get an interview in or something, if you give me your application, I’ll put it on Christine’s desk.”

 

“Aw, sweet.” Mae was excited to work for some reason, it was probably because she was starting to feel less like an adult, and more like she was a teenager again each day.

 

Gregg glanced over to her, “Why do you wanna work at the Snack Falcon?”

 

“I dunno, I need money and my parents want me to have a job anyway.” It was a simplified answer, but an answer nonetheless. 

 

The reached the tool shop and entered through the door, one after the other. Mae turned to Gregg and whispered “Hey, watch this.” She ran up to the counter, “Hey, Bea! We gotta go back to the mine again!”

 

Bea’s eyes shot wide open, “What!?” 

 

Gregg and Mae laughed, through it, Mae was barely able to spit out a “Just kidding!” 

 

Bea rolled her eyes, “Wow, you guys are the worst.”

 

Gregg lowered his eyes, “Hey, Mae said it, not me.” 

 

“Anyway, I’m thinking we go to Mini Golf and then get ice cream.” Mae added.

 

Bea started walking to the back of the store to get her things, “Well we never got around to doing that I suppose.” She looked at the other two for a second, then walked into the back of the store. “Alright, I’ll get my stuff, you guys wait here.”

 

Suddenly, a question appeared in Mae’s head, “Hold on, Gregg?” 

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Is Angus busy, why isn’t he coming with us?”

 

Gregg sighed, and looked at Mae; he was almost annoyed he couldn’t figure out the answer herself, “Well, y’know, Bea and I used to be able to hang out back when we were in school, without Angus. It kinda seems like he’s the only thing that kinda holds this group together.”

 

Mae interjected, “Me too!”

 

“Eh, kinda. But I just kinda wanted to make sure I don’t lose anymore friends.” He chuckled a little as a tear escaped his eye, “A train, God damnit. I thought he ran away on a train. I was so stupid to think that, and, and I wanted to think that but he was dead the whole time! What I’m saying is that I guess I’ve realized you guys mean a lot to me.” He rubbed his eye, “I’m sorry I kinda went off on that again didn’t I?”

 

Mae wrapped her arm around his shoulder, “Dude, don’t worry about it, we’re gonna have an effin’ blast playing Mini Golf and has some bomb-ass ice cream tonight, alright? It’s gonna be great, I promise.”

 

Bea stepped back in the store, “Sorry I took so long, some dick hid my bag agai-” noticing Gregg had clearly been crying, “What the hell just happened?”

 

Mae flashed a smile and said, “Don’t worry about it, Bea, cause right now…” She jumped on the counter, pointed down at Bea, and exclaimed to the high-heavens “ _ It’s time for MINI GOLF!! _ ”

 

…

 

“Get the hell off the counter, Mae.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah hey, it's me, the author. Sorry this one took really long, but I was busy doing stuff, and this fanfiction, sadly wasn't stuff.


	5. Mini Golf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mae, Gregg, and Bea play mini golf.

Bea’s car sat outside Mae’s house, a light from the kitchen indicated that they were having dinner right now. Bea stepped outside the car into the frigid night, and walked to Mae’s door, she opened it, “Mae, just go get a damn coat.”

Mae disagreed, “No, Bea I don’t need to, let’s just go to Mini Golf already.”

Bea groaned and pointed to the door of the house, “Mae, it is way too cold for you to just tough out the cold. Like seriously, just step out here right now and feel for yourself.”

Mae stepped out of the car, and was instantly chilled to the bone, as if the temperature was only a factor to her when someone mentioned it. As she instinctively folded her arms, she mustered the smuggest grin she could make to look south and said “Yeah I don’t need a coat.” Bea lowered her eyes and stared at her, silently telling her she knew she wasn’t alright. “Okay fine I need a coat!” 

Mae trudged over to the house and opened the door, and walked inside, so did Bea, but she did that with the car. Now it was just the two of them, two people who once had a great friendship but don’t really hang out anymore. Gregg was determined to change that, but could he? I mean what would he even talk about? He thought to himself, Well what do Bea and I even have to talk about, the band I guess maybe? Uhh, almost dying? Mae? I don’t know but I guess she is relevant to the situation so, may as wel-

“Are you alright Gregg?” Bea asked out of nowhere, “You’re surprisingly quiet right now, especially for yourself. Like, why did you even ask me to hang out, it’s not like we’ve even been good friends in years, y’know, why all this effort now?”  
Gregg sighed, and looked out the window, “To tell you the truth, I don’t really know either. But something really clicked from this shit that’s been happening recently, and I dunno, losing Casey took a huge toll on my life, and finding out that he didn’t just run away and he… died, well I’d say that just kind of reopened the wound I guess is how I’d put it. I know we haven’t been super close in more recent times but since Angus and I are gonna be leaving for Bright Harbor, I’ll be seeing you guys even less; and I think I’d regret not being better friends with you then.”

Taken aback by the ease for Gregg to just spill out everything, Bea just kinda sat there for a second, “Huh, well thanks for telling me.”

“No problem, but hey, Mae should be back any second, and if I know Mae, she’s really good at brightening up any situation!”

Mae opened the door and stepped back outside, in the middle of the porch light she stood, clearly visible was her new super-puffy pink winter jacket that was clearly too big for her, and a neon green wool scarf. Clearly her mom helped her pick out this… interesting attire. 

Gregg just kinda sat there staring at her for a second dumbfounded. But then he came to, and started to chuckle, chuckling turned into laughter, and laughter into full on hysterics. Mae opened the car door and sat in her seat. “Not a word, Beatrice.”

Bea looked back at Gregg, still laughing, but apologizing for doing so in between. “I dunno, it’s kinda cute.” She said. As she put the car into gear and drove off. Mae’s head turned to the shade of a ripe tomato.

Half a mile down the road, Gregg was finally done laughing, “Oh my God that probably added years to my life, again I’m sorry for laughing.”

Mae turned around in her seat to face Gregg and replied, “Yeah don’t worry,” she held out her arms, “it is pretty ridiculous isn’t it? But still it’s too bad you didn’t literally die laughing.”

“Well it’s too bad you didn’t suffocate in that thing.”

“Well it’s too bad you didn’t accidentally get your arm stuck in the window and have it roll up.”

Bea chimed in, “It’s too bad I’m not driving straight into one of these trees right now.” They all had a good laugh as they continued to their destination.  
***

Bea turned off the car, and took the key out, “I’ll go get us the stuff we need.” Gregg and Mae stepped out of the car, Mae had taken off her scarf because she thought that the coat was more than enough to survive 25 degrees. 

Gregg nudged Mae on the shoulder, “I’m gonna beat your ass in mini golf.”

Mae’s eyes narrowed, “Oh, I’m sure you’d love to think that.”

Gregg stared back, “I don’t have to think it, I already know it.” 

“Really, are you ready to bet your life on it, Greggory?”

“I know I am, but are you, Margaret?” Both of them stared at each other intensely for a few more moments, before suddenly bursting out in laughter. “Alright! Let’s have some fun for once in our damn lives!” 

Bea called, heading into the course, “C’mon guys, I got the stuff.”

Mae replied “Oh yeah I love stuff!” as the two of them followed her into the course. 

Once they caught up to Bea, she was already setting up her first shot. Mae and Gregg had two obvious choices, encourage her, or…

“Uh-oh Bea!” Mae exclaimed, “better not mess up! Your family’s honor rests in this putt!” Bea rolled her eyes, and shot the ball. It meandered its way down the small patch of green, and… hole in one.

She snorted, “Guess my family’s gonna be alright, then.” and handed Mae and Gregg their balls, and to save time as it was starting to get a bit dark, moved onto the next hole. 

Gregg was up next, and of course, Mae resumed her shenanigans of trying to throw him off. This time, however, when Gregg’s ball started rolling, it stopped just short of the hole.

Mae confidently marched up to the start of the course, “Step aside, kid. I’m gonna get a hole in one too.” 

Gregg sarcastically remarked, “Yeah, good luck with that.”

Mae set up her shot, and hit harder than she probably needed, but ended up knocking Gregg’s ball into the hole. Gregg once again burst out laughing, “Hey, thanks man!”

“Don’t mention it.” Mae sneered, she walked over to her ball, and putted it into the hole, and caught up with the other two. Bea was already having trouble on the second hole despite the previous hole in one.

“Wow I hate mini golf.” Bea joked, and took another shot, just missing the hole. “That’s three putts, I officially can’t get the par on this one. God it is so damn cold, why’d we decide to do mini golf when it was this cold?”

“I didn’t even notice the cold until you made me get this jacket!” 

“Congrats, Mae. We’re all so proud.” 

…

Gregg interjected, “We can leave if you want, Bea.” 

 

Bea looked back at the two, and back at the course, “No, I’m fine, sorry for lashing out there.” She took another shot, and it went into the hole, she picked up her ball, and walked to the next hole. 

Gregg set up his ball at the start of the hole again, hit the ball, but it rolled right back to him when it failed to clear a small hill. “Damnit. Was coming here even a good idea, Mae?”

Mae looked at him incredulously, “I think so, Bea was probably just unhappy with that last hole, I mean look there she… Oh wow she’s already on the hole after the next one!” 

“Well, then we’d better catch up right?” Gregg asked as he shot his ball… missed by an inch. “ACK!”

Mae stepped up to the beginning of the hole, cleared her mind… And shot the ball, she stared intently at the ball as it rolled towards the hole…

…

“Hell yeah! Hole in one!’ Mae ran to get her ball, and ran to the next hole, she began to set up her ball at this hole when Gregg caught up with her. “Nice of you to make it Greggor.” At the next hole, Bea was just standing, clearly just waiting for them to make it. “Bank shot!” Mae yelled as she shot the ball into the wall, and it surprisingly worked. “Wow, I really didn’t expect that to work so well.” 

While she walked to the next hole, Gregg was already setting up his shot. Mae approached Bea, “Hey, Bea.”

“Welcome to hole number…” Bea glanced at the flag, “...four.”

Mae looked at the rest of the holes, but there didn’t seem to be that many left, “How many holes are there?”

“Well, I don’t know but they only put in eight courses? There’s usually eighteen.”

Mae nudged Bea in the arm, “Alrighty, are you gonna shoot your shot, then?”

“I did, earlier.”

“Huh?” 

“Yeah my ball is right there.”

“Ah, okay then…” Mae placed her ball down as usual. She took her shot, and it landed right next to the hole. “Oh God Damnit.”

They continued putting as Gregg finally popped back in, “Well, howdy. How’re we doing over here?”

“It’s going better, I think.” Mae replied.

Bea, more cheerfully than usual added “Yeah. I’m feeling a lot better now that I’ve gotten used to the cold. Sorry again for that outburst, work was really frustrating today.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s fine.” Gregg assured her, “What happened at work anyway?”

“Oh, y’know, normal stuff like the shop is gonna go out of business soon if we keep losing customers; my dad is still doing nothing about it, too.” 

Mae decided it best to stay out of this one.

“Plus we… No, I still have to deal with all of Creek’s bullshit. Work is just garbage right now.”

Gregg raised his eyebrow incredulously, “Yeah I don’t know who Creek is, but why is the Ol’ Pickaxe going out of business?”

“Same reason every other shop in town is: No one in Possum Springs can afford shit anymore. Prices here are insane right now for the low wages. You know, it costs twenty-five dollars for the three of us to get in here?”

“Holy hell.” Gregg replied.

“Yeah, we’re just losing customers left and right because we have to hike up our prices to accommodate for this economy. Meanwhile, you could just call some other well-known company two towns over and pay like half the price.”

“That sucks, man. If you need anything, I could try to help?” Gregg asked.

“Thanks for offering, but unless for some reason you guys have some construction work you want done before you leave to bright harbor, then I don’t think you can help.”

Mae got an idea, a good one she hoped, “Well, the town’s pretty much falling apart. Maybe the city council will ask you guys for help.”

“Well they haven’t up until now, and I wouldn’t count on it. But I have to figure something out, really soon.” 

Mae grabbed Bea’s shoulder, “Hey, I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

Bea sighed and pushed Mae’s hand off, “Yeah, I always do.”

They made it to the last hole, the temperature had dropped even more since the night began. “C’mon…” Gregg watched with bated breath as his ball inched towards the hole, slowed… And… “HELL yeah!” 

“And we’ve all finished.” Mae remarked, “But who won?”

Gregg turned to Mae, “I uh, didn’t keep track of my score.” 

“Yeah, me neither.” Bea added.

“Huh.” Was Mae’s only response. “Well, I guess now it’s time for ice cream right?”

Bea had that confused tone again, “What?” 

“Yeah, we said we were going for mini golf and ice cream?”

“Mae, we’re not getting ice cream when it’s like 2 degrees outside. Now come on, let’s get to the car before we all die of hypothermia or something.”

The three of them got to the car, Mae’s jacket got stuck in the door when she tried to close it, Bea turned on the heat to full blast, and Gregg sat down in the passenger seat. The car took off, and they got back to their usual car shenanigans of joking around with each other.

***

When Bea dropped off Mae, she immediately took off the jacket and scarf. Her father wasn’t on the couch, probably had a long day at work and decided to go straight to bed. She decided to follow his lead, went upstairs, and of course opened her laptop to say goodnight to her friends.

“heyy gregg”

“whats up nerd”

“did u have a good time at mini golf??”

“yeah dude it was fun”

“alright cool, i think im gonna head to bed, say hi to angus for me since he didnt come”

“gotcha man.”

Since Bea likely wasn’t home yet, she decided to just go to bed, since she was about to pass out from exhaustion. As she drifted off, she thought to herself that maybe hanging out with her friends was helping her more than she thought. Well, it at least helps a lot more than Dr. Hank would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy, alright. So I've got a lot of notes on this chapter because I have a lot of thoughts on it. I thought this chapter would be the easiest one to write, but honestly I didn't realize how much of a challenge it'd be to have a game of mini golf going on while trying to keep it from getting really stale. I hope I did an alright job on that at least. The rest of the chapter was pretty easy, I knew how I wanted it to say for the most part, but that mini golf stuff, man, that was hard for me to work around. I've got some fun ideas for the upcoming chapters, and I can't wait to start writing them. I also want to thank the people who left comments on my last chapter, they really made my day when I saw them.


	6. Poems are Hard

Mae awoke to the pain akin to a knife stabbing straight through her stomach. Oh, right I didn’t eat anything yesterday. She slowly walked through her daily routine, but made breakfast her priority. 

Her mom eyed her pouring her second bowl of cereal, “Wow, you’re hungry. What’d you do last night?”

Mae poured milk into the bowl, “Gregg, Bea, and I played mini golf. We were gonna get ice cream, but Bea decided it was too cold.”

“I didn’t know Bea decided the weather.”

“Har har.”

“So what are you doing today?” She looked at Mae, still scared she might say ‘hike through the woods’ or something. 

Mae considered her options, “I have stuff to do today, probably not gonna hang out with anyone.”

“You’re not going into the woods, are you?” 

She explained, “No, I might not even be leaving the house for awhile, today.” 

“Alright, honey. Maybe look into a therapist or… Oh, I just don’t know how to help you, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine mom, I think I’m getting better. Things are finally starting to make sense again. I’m gonna head up to my room, I’ve got work to do.” 

“Is it paid work?”

“It might be… eventually.”

“Well, alright sweetie. I’ve gotta get going to the church. Shall I tell Kate you’ll be attending tomorrow?”

“Gee I dunno, mom. I talked to God and they told me that they don’t care if I go to church.”

“Well God was just testing your faith. I’ll get you into church again someday, Mae.”

Mae stepped up the stairs into the attic, carefully making sure not to spill the rest of the cereal. When she entered, she realized she had no place to begin her creative process. 

“Guess I’m using this night stand.” She thought, taking the box off and carefully dropping it on the ground spilling out all its contents everywhere. “Perfect!” She thought as she picked up a pen and a notebook, bringing them to the nightstand, and kneeling since she didn’t have a chair. “Alright, poem time!” 

Job, by Mae Borowski.

I need a job,  
But it’s really hard.

“No, that sucks it doesn’t even rhyme.” She scribbles out the unfinished poem and starts again, gnawing on her pen as she thinks.

Job, by Margaret Borowski.

 

I need to get my shit together,  
So I write a poem in this notebook leather,  
Those hazy memories of days long past,  
Hoping that these aren’t my last.

“...Too edgy man, even for me. Plus this notebook isn’t even leather, what the hell am I even doing? Maybe it’s the topic, but what else can I write about?” She begins again.

Shapes, By Margareto Borowskito

 

Everything is shapes in my eyes,  
I see them everywhere, and it makes me cries.

“Wow holy shit I suck at writing poems. Giving this one last try before I throw myself away along with this notebook.”

Friends, By mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

***  
“Alright, I’ll make this brief,  
I think that I’ve turned a new leaf,  
The days of horror have surely past,  
Now here I am left in the ash.  
But of course, I’ve never been alone,  
The friends I have give me my home.  
I know that this is awfully corny,  
But come on man it’s my first try you gotta cut me some slack dude like here come on do you even see all these scribbles all over this notebook like this is my fourth attempt dude I usually give up before the first one would you just let me have this?  
Thanks.”

Selmers looked baffled, “Uhh, what was that ending?”

“Frustration.” Mae replied in monotone.

“Well, I liked the first part of it. I’ll help you work on your next one alright?” She carefully eyed down the scribbles on her notebook, Mae had clearly barely even tried to cover the words. “What do you mean everything you see is shapes?”

“Uhh, yeah don’t worry about it, I’ll catchya later haha.” She walked from Selmers stoop, on the way to stop two of the day. “Well, that was a bust. Hopefully This’ll do much better.” She pulled the application out, and looked at it for the umpteenth time. “Gonna work at the snalcon and stuff and I’m gonna have money. Gotta pay off that college debt I got nothing out of somehow, right?” She made it to her destination, and opened the front door, possibly the last time as a mere customer.

“Yo Gregg, I finished the thingy, can you give it to your boss?” She asked, walking over to the desk.

Gregg’s face lit up, “Aw yeah, duder, gonna be workin’ at the same place!” 

“At the same time?”

“No, this place can barely afford to keep the damn lights on, let alone pay two employees at once.”

“That sucks dude, this sucks! But it’s fine, I’ll be makin’ money so it’s all good. My parents are really getting on my case about it, so I guess here’ll have to do, right?

Gregg reassured her, “Trust me dude, it won’t be that bad for you, considering the schedule. You’re a night owl, right?”

Mae realized instantly what he meant, “Aw shit, I have to stay on the overnight shift?”

“Yeah, our other guy quit recently, so I’ve been doing em’.”  
“Uh… How many hours a day are you working now?”

“Pshh, like 30 or somethin’.”

“...You alright?”

“Never better.” The bags under Gregg’s eyes were suddenly extremely apparent. He looked like he hadn’t slept in at least a year. 

“Alright, well, I think I’ve gotta go home now. I spent like five hours on that and a poem, so I need to treasure sleeping while I still can.”

“Okay, sleep some for me too, dude. I’ll just be here. Probably sleeping anyways.”

Mae made her way back to her house, forgetting her usual checkup on Angus and Bea. Selmers was still on her stoop, reading a newspaper. 

“Yo Selmerssss!”

“Back again, did you write another poem?”

“Nah, I applied for a job at the Snack Falcon.”

“Ooh! Nice, I’ve been lookin’ for a job myself but nowhere seems to be hiring. I’ve probably sent in a million applications there and haven’t heard a response. Good luck, though.”

All of a sudden, Mae felt uneasy. Sure this town was in shit shape but there’s no way it wasn’t gonna let her get a job. She left Selmers’ stoop, and finally got back to the house. As she walked in, both her parents were already home, staring wide-eyed at the TV. The news was on. A corpse was found in the old mines under the rubble of a broken elevator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ouch it's really been awhile, huh? Well I don't know if I'll be continuing this project after the somewhat recent news regarding Alec Holowka. I may, but it really will be a slow churn, like probably slower than how long it took to get these measly thousand words out. I thought I owed something of an explanation for how long this took, and this is the best thing I could think of. If you've been reading thus far, don't worry, I still have ideas in my head of where I want this all to go, and I will most likely, eventually write them. 
> 
> I also wanna start writing other stuff, so keep watch for that I guess.


End file.
